Messages

421

Modern Video Games / Re: What is your favorite collector's edition you have?

« on: August 20, 2016, 12:24:20 pm »

Retro Speaking my copy of Lunar Eternal Blue stands supreme as my all time favorite. Best collectors edition of my modern games was my copy of Guilty Gear Xrd. Nothing special about it really but I had to pick something. Limited collector editions don't get me excited now days. I don't get them unless they have a soundtrack CD

We think a lot alike 
Lunar Eternal Blue Complete and Arc the Lad Collection are probably my favorite ones I have. The amount of love and care Working Designs put into them is amazing.
I also prefer if there's a soundtrack CD; when I acquired Eternal Blue Complete, the one item I wanted to be sure was still there was the soundtrack. I've bought Soul Calibur strategy guides just for the soundtrack CDs 

I don't have many more current collector's editions. I got a few, but I stopped getting them when I realized they didn't really come with anything I wanted that much. The Soul Calibur IV Collector's Edition was pretty cool with the t-shirt, but I ended up getting rid of it a couple of years ago because it was always too small, even though it said it was x-large. And the huge tin doesn't fit on my game shelf.
My Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition is probably my favorite modern one, but just because I got it signed by Jennifer Hale (voice of FemShep).

422

General / Re: Sony or Nintendo all time?

« on: August 17, 2016, 12:10:45 am »

This is REALLY tough...
I've been a Nintendo supporter from the Game & Watch days, and have always appreciated the quality of everything they put out. NES was head and shoulders above everything else at the time, and the SNES > Genesis (IMO). However, the N64 and Gamecube only had a handful of titles that were really system-sellers, while PS1 and PS2 had multiple killer apps and popular franchises. And starting with the Wii/PS3 era there's no contest. Wii lost me as a customer and I have no interest in Nintendo's products going forward. As much as I love the Big N, they've really dropped the ball in recent years.

Ultimately, I give the slight overall edge to Nintendo. The NES was revolutionary, the SNES was great, and even though they had fewer good games, the quality titles on N64 and Gamecube were groundbreaking (Mario 64, OOT, RE4, Metroid Prime). My answer will likely change in a few years, however, if things keep going the way they have been. Nintendo could potentially be out of the console business and most of their best stuff will be 20-30 years old.

423

General / Re: Have you ever had a moment when a game or genre just "clicked?"

« on: August 15, 2016, 07:53:23 pm »

Fun to see everyone's responses.

Funny you bring this up, at the moment I'm obsessed with Fallout, I recently played through New Vegas and am now playing Fallout 3 GOTY. I don't know if they have really "clicked" for me personally, I mean I love the games and atmosphere, but over 100 hours in any game is still pretty insane to me. According to steam I have 24 hours in New Vegas... and that's after beating the game, I've gone back to Fallout 4 a couple of times just to mess around but I am really hoping Fallout 3 changes that for me. I'm trying to force myself to take it slow and not worry about when I'll beat the game, but to just enjoy what is there.

Yeah, with only 24 hrs it seems like you just played through the main quest and didn't do much exploring. Which is fine, the beauty of games like Fallout is you can play any way you want. But for me, it's about the thrill of exploration, and the main quest is secondary. Most of those 100 hrs were before I completed the main quest, there's just so much to do in the game.

I've never been someone to play that long either; I average 40 hrs in most JRPGs, and that's with some sidequests. I just prefer to do everything I can before completing the game, and WRPGs like Fallout have a lot to do.

424

General / Have you ever had a moment when a game or genre just "clicked?"

« on: August 13, 2016, 03:11:08 pm »

So about 2 years ago I had a moment when open-world RPGs just "clicked;" that is, I just suddenly "got" them, and I was curious if anyone else has had the same experience.

My first experience with open-world type games was back in the early 2000s when my cousin in Norway showed me Grand Theft Auto III and kept gushing about how great it was. I tried it and I was not really impressed. Later my sister got me GTA: Vice City for my birthday, and I played it for a few days, but I got so bored I quit and never played it again. So my first impressions of open-world were not great.

A bit later, I kept reading about how great Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was, so I bought a used copy for XBOX for cheap. The same thing happened; I played it for a few days and thought it was OK, but got bored again. At the time my reaction was, why would anyone want to wander around aimlessly doing all these little things? I felt like I needed more direction, instead of everything being so, well, OPEN.

So I skipped Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion because I figured I'd find it boring too. I did buy Fallout 3, again because I heard good things about it. The beginning part in the vault was kinda boring, but I stuck through until I left the vault and reached the first town (Megaton). Now, after you leave the vault you can't see much of the world, just a small abandoned town down below, and I was not impressed. A path to the right leads to Megaton, but there's a ridge straight ahead that I never went over. I did a couple of quests in Megaton, but I started having the same feelings of boredom. I put it aside and didn't play for probably a year. I tried again and the same thing happened.

So about 2 years ago, I was gathering some games together to sell to Gamestop to get rid of clutter and get a little extra cash. I added Fallout 3 to the pile without a thought, but the day before I brought the pile to Gamestop, I decided to give it one last chance. I played through everything I had done twice before... but this time I finally went over that ridge I mentioned earlier.

My mouth dropped open and I probably muttered something like "holy crap."
Sprawled out before me was a HUGE barren landscape, with the ruined Washington Monument in the background, the sun peeking through the haze. It was beautiful.
I couldn't wait to get down there and explore the area. I stopped at the abandoned grocery store straight ahead and ran into my first enemy mutant. Through my first 2 tries, I just had not gotten the hang of the VATS targeting system. I tried it out on this mutant...
BAM! His head went flying, and I said "HOLY SHIT!"

In a span of probably less than 2 minutes, I not only got hooked on Fallout 3 and finally understood the targeting system, but I understood what open-world RPGs are all about. It's all about the exploration, finding new places, taking a short detour to check out a random building or cave. I ended up with over 100 hours into Fallout 3. Then I got Skyrim and was blown away. I have 120 hours into that game. I'm currently playing through Oblivion, which I finally went back and tried. Last night I battled through a dungeon of really tough undead soldiers to reach the Madstone, and it was thrilling. Funny to think it wasn't that long ago I was about to give up on the open-world genre forever.

Anyway, that's my story. Anyone else have something similar to share?

425

Classic Video Games / Re: What is a game that everyone hates but you love?

« on: August 13, 2016, 10:59:32 am »

Greetings, brother! 

Good to know someone else feels the same way. Most people think I'm whacked when I mention that.
I'm definitely not saying CT is a bad game, I still love it. I just liked CC more overall, with the unique battle system, colorful world, amazing soundtrack, and the "gotta catch 'em all" aspect of the characters.

Heya, badass name btw

I feel like CC didn't get the love it deserved. Seemed to always get overshadowed by other ps1 era rpg's.

People hardly ever talk about it in my circles. Maybe I need better circles...

Thanks
It's actually a name I've been using on a Transformers collecting site for a few years now. I had trouble coming up with a good name so I just combined my favorite pro wrestler with a Transformer :p
It's a little long, but UnderPrime and TakerPrime just sounded stupid

Yeah, CC did get overshadowed because its predecessor is so beloved, as well as having contemporaries like the super-popular FFVII. To be fair, though, most circles don't talk about it so you might have trouble finding one that does. Maybe we need our own circle, "Citizens of Chronopolis: Friends of Chrono Cross" or some such :p 

426

General / Re: Human Strategy Guide

« on: August 11, 2016, 02:54:28 pm »

I already mentioned this in the introduction thread, but...

Contra - I used to be good enough at Contra that I never needed the Konami code. My greatest gaming accomplishment is beating it twice in a row, including the harder second time through, without dying. I haven't tried it in years, though, so I'd bet that game would destroy me if I tried now 

TMNT (arcade) - I would play this game incessantly at the bowling alley where my parents had their league night, and I had every inch of it memorized. To this day I can usually beat it on one credit, but I still have not accomplished my ultimate goal, which is to beat it without dying. When you're playing 1-player, the longer you go without dying, the game throws more enemies at you and the bosses take more hits, until you finally die and the enemy count is reduced back to normal. Around the time you get to the middle of stage 3, the number of enemies becomes almost overwhelming if you haven't died, making it extremely difficult for me to get through it without losing one life. One time I got to Krang on one life, but he was taking an INSANE amount of hits to beat and I got careless and he killed me.

I'm pretty good at games similar to TMNT, like Simpsons and X-men, but those games have some cheap bosses that make it very difficult to beat them without multiple deaths (for example, Blob at the end of X-Men stage 2, who sometimes does an unavoidable throw that takes off a chunk of life).

Q*bert - I'm good enough at Q*Bert (my #1 favorite game ever) that I can be out of practice and still do well. Last October I went to a retro arcade in Austin, Texas during a business trip and proceeded to spend the majority of my time on one game of Q*Bert. I think I got to the point where level 9 was repeating for the 5th or 6th time when I just wanted to play something else, as my time and money were limited. If I had the time, money, and patience to practice for multiple hours a day, I honestly feel like I could possibly challenge for some kind of record.

From what I know, most of Konami's beat-em-ups got difficulty buffs for the American arcade releases compared to their easier Japanese versions probably just to make more money. X-men is probably the worst example out of the bunch you mentioned with its difficulty, since the bosses require very specific patterns to avoid taking any hits and are way more aggressive.

I didn't know the Japanese versions were easier, I'm so used to the US ones they'd probably be too easy for me
Most of the bosses in X-Men are fine, and can be beaten with a combination of timing, dexterity, and patience. There's only 2 or 3 that cheap you to death, but then you have to beat them all again in the final stage's "boss rush." If you scroll the screen too far and get a couple on screen at the same time, you might as well get your whole roll of quarters ready... 
If I remember correctly, the only boss in Simpsons that is a pain is final boss (Mr. Burns). Most are pretty beatable, and Smithers isn't too bad as long as you're on your toes, but it's very difficult to avoid trading hits with Mr. Burns.

427

General / Re: Human Strategy Guide

« on: August 10, 2016, 10:22:35 pm »

I already mentioned this in the introduction thread, but...

Contra - I used to be good enough at Contra that I never needed the Konami code. My greatest gaming accomplishment is beating it twice in a row, including the harder second time through, without dying. I haven't tried it in years, though, so I'd bet that game would destroy me if I tried now 

TMNT (arcade) - I would play this game incessantly at the bowling alley where my parents had their league night, and I had every inch of it memorized. To this day I can usually beat it on one credit, but I still have not accomplished my ultimate goal, which is to beat it without dying. When you're playing 1-player, the longer you go without dying, the game throws more enemies at you and the bosses take more hits, until you finally die and the enemy count is reduced back to normal. Around the time you get to the middle of stage 3, the number of enemies becomes almost overwhelming if you haven't died, making it extremely difficult for me to get through it without losing one life. One time I got to Krang on one life, but he was taking an INSANE amount of hits to beat and I got careless and he killed me.

I'm pretty good at games similar to TMNT, like Simpsons and X-men, but those games have some cheap bosses that make it very difficult to beat them without multiple deaths (for example, Blob at the end of X-Men stage 2, who sometimes does an unavoidable throw that takes off a chunk of life).

Q*bert - I'm good enough at Q*Bert (my #1 favorite game ever) that I can be out of practice and still do well. Last October I went to a retro arcade in Austin, Texas during a business trip and proceeded to spend the majority of my time on one game of Q*Bert. I think I got to the point where level 9 was repeating for the 5th or 6th time when I just wanted to play something else, as my time and money were limited. If I had the time, money, and patience to practice for multiple hours a day, I honestly feel like I could possibly challenge for some kind of record.

428

Classic Video Games / Re: How old were you when you first beat Super Mario Bros.?

« on: August 10, 2016, 09:28:18 pm »

I don't remember the first time I beat it, but I do vividly remember the first time I saw it.
I was living in Germany at the time and my parents brought me along to visit another American family whose kid's father worked with my dad. The kid had a NES and showed me SMB. Naturally, it was unlike anything I had ever seen; I still had my Atari 2600 and that was my only basis for comparison. He knew where all the secrets were in stages 1-1 and 1-2, and to this day I still play those levels exactly like he did. If I remember correctly, he also had Ice Climber, Balloon Fight, Clu Clu Land, and Gyromite. Not surprisingly, ROB was up on a shelf collecting dust. We tried getting it to work with Gyromite once, but it was so fiddly to set up we gave up.

Anyway, within a year I had more NES games than he did 

429

Classic Video Games / Re: What is a game that everyone hates but you love?

« on: August 07, 2016, 08:16:34 pm »

I love Chrono Cross, even more than Chrono Trigger.

I second this.

Greetings, brother! 

Good to know someone else feels the same way. Most people think I'm whacked when I mention that.
I'm definitely not saying CT is a bad game, I still love it. I just liked CC more overall, with the unique battle system, colorful world, amazing soundtrack, and the "gotta catch 'em all" aspect of the characters.

430

Classic Video Games / Re: Do you hate Greatest hits/Players choice games?

« on: August 07, 2016, 06:20:41 pm »

I'm really only concerned with playing the game, so I don't care if it's a Greatest Hits version. However, most of my games are not Greatest Hits; the only ones are those I didn't buy when they were first out but decided later I wanted. For example the first Metal Gear Solid, the first Uncharted, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, all of which I decided I wanted after playing their sequels.

431

Classic Video Games / Re: What is a game that everyone hates but you love?

« on: August 06, 2016, 12:56:47 am »

My most blatant instances:

Pit Fighter (Genesis).
Now, the arcade version of Pit Fighter is dogshit. And the SNES port is flaming dogshit. I personally find the Genesis port somewhat playable. I actually liked it enough to buy it, and I played it and beat it fairly regularly. The hit detection is a bit better than the arcade or the SNES.

Clay Fighter (SNES)
Definitely not the best fighter, but I enjoyed the imaginative characters and the opening song. I liked it enough to buy the sequel, and prompted me to buy Clay Fighter 64 1/3 Sculptor's Cut from my local Blockbuster when they made it available.

WWF In Your House (PS1)
I loved the Wrestlemania arcade game and PS1 port, so I had to get this sequel of sorts. It's not as good as its predecessor, but I liked it well enough.

This last one is video game blasphemy:
I love Chrono Cross, even more than Chrono Trigger.
I don't know if that qualifies, though, since Cross isn't really hated.

432

General / Re: Metroid's 30th Anniversary is Aug. 5th

« on: August 03, 2016, 09:17:31 pm »

The same shit happened at their 25th Anniversary so to be quite honest I really don't expect anything from Nintendo and not only for this franchise, it appears that the destiny of the company it will the worst one, kinda sad to see that the one who made my childhood pure fun can't make the same thing one way or another for my daughters.

That's a cute drawing 

Unfortunately, Nintendo seems content being number 3. They have become more of a niche console maker instead of mainstream. For a while now, their management has seemed old and behind the times, which in my opinion started back when they insisted on sticking with cartridges for the N64 when it was clear CDs were the wave of the future. They're really good at innovation, but right now it seems only their reputation and popular franchises are keeping them from delving into obscurity.

433

General / Re: Metroid's 30th Anniversary is Aug. 5th

« on: August 03, 2016, 12:21:47 pm »

The bottom line is, Nintendo is a Japanese company and is more attuned to Japanese sensibility. I don't remember if it was Super Metroid or Metroid Prime, but Nintendo was not planning to continue the series due to a perceived lack of interest and they had to be persuaded to make another game. I think it was Nintendo of America that persuaded them because the series was so much bigger in the US and they realized there was more money to be made, something Nintendo of Japan was not aware of.

I've always been a Nintendo supporter, even back to the Game & Watch. But their recent products have lost me as a customer. My Wii sat unused for 2 years before I sold it and all my games to a co-worker. I have zero interest in the Wii U or the 3DS. Motion controls are just not my thing, and 3D gives me a headache. Yes, I know there's now a 2DS, but there's no games that make me want to jump up and buy one.

434

General / Re: Metroid's 30th Anniversary is Aug. 5th

« on: August 02, 2016, 04:53:48 pm »

I think a big part of the lack of 30th anniversary recognition for Metroid has a lot to do with the fact that Metroid just isn't as popular in Japan as it is in the rest of the world. If I correctly remember what I read a while back, that's the reason Metroid games have been so few and far between; Nintendo is reluctant to make more of them because they just don't sell as well as their main franchises, especially in Japan.

Anyway, Super Metroid is among my top 10 personal favorite games. Metroid Prime is great, as are the portable offerings.
The NES original, honestly, was a little too broad for my younger mind to comprehend, and I didn't play it much at first because the areas were just so huge and confusing (at least without my handy-dandy Nintendo Power  . Prime 2 is just OK, and I didn't play Prime 3 due to basically hating the motion controls.

435

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: July 31, 2016, 10:49:39 am »

I'm currently playing through Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. It's not the best portable Metroidvania, but it's still really good.

What's cool about the portable Metroidvanias is after you play through all 6 (Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia) you can go back to the first one and it feels like you haven't played it in forever.

Wasn't Ecclesia a level-based one?

Hmmm, I guess it's debatable.
There is a strict level progression to begin with, but you do still use gained abilities to unlock areas in previous levels. And once you visit a level you can revisit it any time, as opposed to a pure level-based game.

So it's just easier to refer to all the games as Metroidvanias instead of "5 Metroidvanias and one that is kinda but not quite"